JCP stands firm against 'Koizumi reform' policies

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi said that the reshuffled Koizumi Cabinet is "geared to push through a major tax increase, constitutional revision, and realignment of military bases--"Koizumi reform" policies continue to destroy the peace and undermine the standard of people's living.

Speaking before reporters in the Diet on October 31, he said as follows:

"Prime Minister Koizumi's 'structural reform' will create the law of the jungle. Its foreign and security policy subservient to the U.S. is without parallel in the rest of the world.

The JCP stands firm against the Koizumi Cabinet's policy that puts the interests of the United States and major corporations first, and strives to realize a society in which everyone can live with dignity.

During its general election campaign, the JCP stressed that the JCP is the 'only reliable opposition party' capable of confronting all attempts to undermine the public interest. Given the fact that the opposition Democratic Party in the current Diet session has competed with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party for undemocratic policies, the JCP's role as a reliable opposition party is greater than ever before.

The JCP will vigorously struggle in and out of the Diet to stop the major tax increase plan, constitutional revision, and military base realignment.

The new cabinet can be called a cabinet 'putting the right person at the right post' in order to push 'adverse politics.'

Now that the cabinet was reshuffled at the end of the Diet session, the JCP demands that the government hold a extraordinary Diet session where new ministers will be required to give key policy speeches."